The Importance Of Information Search In Academic Research

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Information search is a fundamental activity for the development of any academic research. During the last decades, with mass access to computers, internet and other electronic media, they have increased the available tools to facilitate access to an almost infinite amount of information sources. Thus, it becomes very important for students and researchers to develop their knowledge regarding the use and management of the different information sources, in order to improve their capabilities and criteria during the search process of academic information. Information sources for academic applications can be of different types. According to Lee, Paik, and Joo (2012) can be grouped into 4 main types: (1) online information sources, such as search engines, web pages, online encyclopedias, digital libraries, and scholarly online databases; (2) printed sources, such as books, printed reports, and magazines; (3) human sources, such as colleagues, teachers,…show more content…
It is recommended to avoid using very broad search terms, since a large number of results would be generated, which would complicate identifying the location of the required information (Brusco, 2010). To help narrow outcoming results, scholarly databases have capabilities that allow us to define the specific characteristics of the requested information through different search fields or attributes. Below, we have an explanatory example of searching information including different sources and various search techniques, and also evaluating the differences in the results. Search engines used were Google, Google Scholar, and ERIC Database. The terms used in the search were Distance Education, "Distance Education", Distance + Education, Distance AND Education, and Distance OR

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